A headshot answers one question: what do you look like. A branding session answers the rest of them.
Branding Photography
One session. A year of content.
Most people book a branding session because they have run out of things to post, or because their website is still using a photo a friend took three years ago. Two hours gets you eight finished images that do different jobs — one that works as a headshot, a few working shots, something with your hands and your tools in it, and frames that fit a phone screen without being cropped to pieces. Below is work for eight businesses: a physician, a med spa, an aesthetics clinic, a permanent-makeup studio, a jewelry label, a scarf brand, a bridal headpiece designer and a retail label. Tap any photograph to see it full size.
You don’t need to know how to pose.
This is the part everyone worries about, and it is the part I handle. I direct the whole session — posture, hands, chin, expression, where to look.
If you have never liked a photo of yourself, that is the most common thing I hear. It is almost always a direction problem rather than a face problem.
What we settle before the day
Wardrobe
1
Send me what you are considering and I will tell you what photographs well and what to leave at home. Bring more than you think — we choose together.
Location
2
The Irvine studio, your own space, or somewhere that says something about the work. On location suits people whose environment is part of the pitch.
What the images are for
3
A website header crops differently from an Instagram grid and differently again from a LinkedIn banner. Tell me where these are going and I photograph for those shapes.
The shot list
4
Portraits, working shots, environment, detail. We agree what the eight images need to cover before we start, so nothing gets missed in the room.
How a session works
Plan
1
A short conversation before the day to settle wardrobe, location and the shot list, so none of it is being decided with the clock running.
Shoot
2
Two hours in the Irvine studio or on location, directed the whole way, reviewing on screen as we go.
Choose
3
You see the images and pick your eight, so the set that gets delivered is the set you chose.
Deliver
4
Retouched files in an online gallery — ready for a website, a profile and a year of posts.
Branding sessions
Branding session
From $1,500 for two hours, in the Irvine studio or on location. Eight professionally retouched images included, delivered in an online gallery. We agree the shot list before the day.
More images
Additional retouched images are $150 each. You choose them from your own gallery rather than buying blind, and you can add them after the session.
Something larger
Multiple people, product alongside people, or a shoot across more than one location. Tell me what you have in mind and I will quote it. Email abousaif@icloud.com.
Book your branding session
Pick a time below. We settle wardrobe, location and the shot list before the day.
Questions people ask
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A headshot session produces one strong portrait of your face, built to work at thumbnail size on a professional profile. A branding session produces a set — portraits, working shots, environment, detail — meant to be spread across a website and a year of posts.
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Bring more than you think. Send me what you are considering beforehand and we will narrow it down together, then work through the looks across the two hours.
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Yes. Sessions run in the Irvine studio or on location, whichever serves the images better. If your space is part of what you are selling, on location is usually the stronger choice.
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No. You receive the finished retouched images you chose. The retouching is the work.
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Yes — a friend, partner or colleague is welcome, and a second pair of eyes on wardrobe usually helps.
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Branding allows more range than a headshot does, but the fundamentals are the same: fit before anything else, nothing brand new, and colors that work with your complexion. The What to Wear guide has the details.
Stop rationing one photo.
Two hours, eight images, and a year of not wondering what to post. Questions: abousaif@icloud.com